A Pair of Lonely Ones
by Galantron
Summary: Haru Yoshioka (The Cat Returns) and Makoto Konno (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) are two teen-aged girls who are very much alike but are separated by the dimensional fabric of the space-time continuum, until a wormhole connects their dimensions to the real world. Now they will become friends to help each other in a new world as well as help one young man accomplish his dreams.
1. A Sunny Day in Nakano

It was a sunny summer day at a park in the Nakano Ward in the city of Tokyo, and a young teen-aged girl known as Haru Yoshioka was calmly sitting on one of the benches with her friend Hiromi. Haru then asked her friend, "Hiromi, have you ever felt like that there was another existence elsewhere in the universe?" Hiromi replied with a question of her own, "You mean like wanting to move to the USA or some other kind of thing?" Haru replied with clarification, "No. I mean like the idea of seeing a world that existed beyond this world." Hiromi then said with realization, "Oh, like encountering another dimension." "Yes. That's exactly like what I'm thinking," Haru replied. Hiromi added, "I don't know if I've ever felt like that. Why do you ask?" Haru replied, "Well, it's just that I feel like I have another life in that other dimension that I was meant to live out." Hiromi said to Haru in a consulting manner, "Maybe it's just that you're searching for someone who also has such feelings." "Maybe so. Anyway, how about we head over to the ice cream place," Haru said. "OK let's head over there," Hiromi said in agreement. Haru and Hiromi soon were on their way to the ice cream place on the other side of the park. Then Hiromi needed to shortly use the restroom and Haru waited outside. Then suddenly, Haru became enveloped in lights which grew brighter and brighter. When the lights disappeared, Haru had also disappeared too and was replaced by an exact duplicate of her, Haru's doppelganger or clone. The original Haru was on her way to the real world.


	2. Summertime in Adachi

That same sunny day in a different reality, a separate but similar dimension, another young teen-aged girl, this one known as Makoto Konno, was spending time in a park next to a river in the Adachi Ward. Makoto was with her friend, Yuri. Makoto, like Haru, was having the same feeling about living out her life as another exsistence in another world beyond her own. Makoto then asked Yuri, "So, what do you think of what I said?" Yuri replied," Well, I think you're just expecting to find some other person who you would have a lot in common with one another." Makoto replied in return, "Maybe." Yuri added, "Could you wait here please? I just have to go get something." "OK," Makoto replied. Soon after Yuri was out of sight, the same lights appeared before Makoto's eyes and surrounded her. The lights shined with ever growing intensity. Then, just as with Haru, the lights disappeared along with Makoto. Makoto's exact duplicate had taken her place as the original Makoto was now on her way through a wormhole to the same place that Haru was being transported to, the real world.


	3. A Midsummer's Night in Phoenix

Meanwhile, in the real world, A young man was sitting on his bed. He had finished watching two movies on his laptop and was nervously thinking about the fate of his family's plot just outside of town. He looked at two pictures, one of Haru and the other of Makoto. Those pictures reflected how he had a dream, to be something that was outside of his normal life. He was watching over the house alone because his parents were on a business trip on the East Coast. But little did he know, that his dream would find him. Haru and Makoto were soon to arrive in the real world.


	4. Arrival behind Ray's Food Place

Meanwhile, in the city center of Phoenix, Oregon, behind the Ray's Food Place, in an empty lot sheltered by trees, Haru and Makoto were about to arrive. The same lights that took them from their dimensions, appeared in the empty lot, and in two groups, the lights, were spaced 10 feet apart from each other. The lights steadily grew brighter and brighter, and then as the lights grew dimmer, Haru and Makoto began to materialize. Then, when the lights finally disappeared, Haru and Makoto were fully materialized and awakened standing up and took their first breath. Haru was the first of the two to speak, albeit to herself not knowing Makoto was also present, "OK, why is it evening and why are you not in the park with Hiromi or for that matter why aren't you in the Nakano Ward?" Then Makoto asked, not knowing who else was there, "Who is this, Hiromi?" Haru then worriedly looked around as she asked, "Who's there?" Makoto replied, "I was about to ask you the same thing." Haru then said, "Come out. Show yourself." Makoto said back, "And the same to you." Haru and Makoto then stepped out from the shadows of the trees and saw each other. Haru asked, "Who are you?" Makoto replied, "Makoto Konno. And you?" Haru added, "Haru Yoshioka. Despite the circumstances, it's nice to meet you, Makoto." Makoto replied, happily, "It's nice to meet you too, Haru. So, how did you end up here?" Haru then responded to her question, "The last thing I remember is being in the park in the Nakano Ward with my friend, Hiromi. Then, after Hiromi shut the door to the restroom, I saw these lights coming towards me, and the lights enveloped me and grew brighter and brighter, then the next thing I knew I was standing here in this empty lot." Makoto then said with amazement, "Hey! The same thing happened to me! I was near the river in the Adachi Ward with my friend Yuri, she went to go get something, then these lights appeared and surrounded me, and then I end up here." Haru was then thunderstruck, "So, we went through the same thing. Something must be going on." Makoto replied, "Yeah, like some major cosmic event or something." Haru then stated, "But now, let's find out where we are." Makoto replied, "Good point. Let's start at that store." "Good job," Haru said with support. Haru and Makoto stepped out of the empty lot and headed for the city center. The girls then saw the sign next to the parking lot. Haru then said, "Makoto, that sign at least told us one thing, we're in a place called Phoenix." Makoto then added, "OK. And because everything is written in English, I can tell we're in the United States. So, the question is which Phoenix?" Haru then said, "There are 7 towns and cities with that name. The states they are in are Arizona, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New York, and Oregon. And it looks like we're in Phoenix, Oregon." Makoto added, "Yeah, because the way this place looks, it's definitely not the first six states you mentioned. Look Haru, there's a map of the town." "Thanks Makoto. OK, I think we should head back to Cheryl Lane and follow North Rose Street towards the south. I have a feeling we might find help if we look in the part of town south of this store," Haru said. Makoto replied, "Well then, let's go." And sure enough, they went to North Rose Street to the southern half of Phoenix, where they would soon cross paths with one young man.


	5. A Night of Surprises

After following both North and South Rose Street, Haru and Makoto walked into Ash Street, and when they arrived on the intersection of B street and Ash Street, they decided to sit down on the crub and relax for a moment. Haru then reflected on where she and Makoto currently were within Phoenix. "OK. According to this map, we are only about four blocks from the end of B Street." Makoto added, "So far we haven't found anyone who might be able to give us any answers. But I can say that the high school here looks simple yet interesting." Haru then added another personal thought, "At least you and I had our lunches back in our parks before we arrived here." Haru and Makoto shared a lighthearted laugh. Then the girls heard a noise, like music, coming from one of the houses two blocks ahead of them. Haru and Makoto then looked at one another and nodded assent. Haru then said, "Let's go check out where these noises are coming from." Makoto replied, proudly, "I'm with you on this one." Haru and Makoto then continued along B Street until entered the intersection of B and Elm Streets. Once there, the girls saw lights on in the second house to their right. They then headed to that house on 106 Elm Street. Makoto then said, "Well, no doubt about it, this is the house where the music is coming from." Haru then added, "Since we could hear it from Ash and B, whoever's in there probably won't hear the front door. So let's check the east side of the house first and try to find a side door." Makoto replied, "Sounds like a good idea to me." Then the girls went over to the gate on that side of the house. Haru said, "Oh. the gate's locked." Makoto then added, "But we can climb over it by using that yard debris can there." Haru replied with delight and support, "Makoto, you're a genius! Give me hand in rolling it over to the gate." Makoto replied, "Sure thing." Haru and Makoto wheeled the yard debris can over to the gate. Haru climbed over with Makoto close behind. Makoto then pointed out, "Haru, there's our side door." Haru replied, "Alright, let's see what's inside, shall we?" Haru and Makoto happily shook hands in agreement. Haru opened the door and they both went inside. Makoto then said, "This must be a playroom." Haru said to Makoto, "There's the door to the rest of the house." They went to the door and slowly opened to reveal a small hallway with a door to the laundry room on one side. The hallway opened out to a dining room and kitchen, and after that a living room. In the living room, was the source of the noise. The young man from two chapters earlier, was watching and acting out the movie, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit." He was in the middle of the scene where Eddie Valiant, Roger Rabbit, and Benny the Cab were being chased through the streets of Los Angeles by Judge Doom's weasles. Haru whispered to Makoto, "There's the where the noise is coming from." Makoto suggested, "Let's see if he can help us out." Haru replied, "Sure." They slowly went over to him, but he didn't notice them, he was concentrating on acting out the movie. Then, in the movie on his TV screen, as Eddie, Roger, and Benny were upon the bridge towards the end of the chase, the young man happened to see Haru and Makoto he was heading for the dining room where was to act out the bridge. As Roger, in the movie, screamed, 'A bridge!', the young man screamed as he was scared out of his wits by the surprise of seeing two animated characters in the real world. He bolted backwards and onto the couch. He then suddenly rose up and stared at Haru and Makoto with a look of shock, surprise, and disbelief. He kept on saying to himself, "This can't be happening! They can't be real!" And then he began acting out Judge Doom's demise, as he became more frantic, as though he was losing his mind. Then Haru walked up him and, for the first time in her life, slapped a teen-aged boy of her age across the face. Haru then said to Makoto, "Makoto, this is the first time I've ever slapped a boy in the face." Makoto, replied with astonishment, "That was your first time." Then the young man rose up and repeated with a Judge Doom-like voice, "Surprised?" Haru, then said with tenseness as she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, "If I weren't as compassionate as I am, I would've had just about enough you! All we came here for is to ask you a few questions. And when you see us, you have to get all crazy about it?!" The young man meekly replied, "B-but, you two aren't supposed to be real. You're both just fictional characters, figments of the imagination of a filmmaker. You aren't supposed to exist in this world." Makoto then asked, "Whatever are you talking about?" Then Haru let him go and he rushed into his room. He came out with a whole bunch of pictures of Haru and Makoto and showed them the movies from where they came from. After viewing the movies and looking at the pictures, Haru and Makoto looked at each other and Haru said, "That explains why, despite living in the same city, we never saw each other before." Makoto added, "Because we lived in different dimensions, or in his world terms, 'movies'." The young man then said, "Now, would you two be kind enough to explain how you came to be here." Haru and Makoto then told him everything that happened before their arrival. Then the young man pondered to himself, "Groups of lights surrounding them. Then they end up in this dimension." He then said to Haru and Makoto, "I've figured it out. What you two probably encountered, was a wormhole. Basically, let's say the space-time continuum is like a piece of paper. You try to get from point a to point b with conventional methods, that would take too long, but now you fold the space-time continuum so that points a and b are closer together and then the wormhole, like a pin through paper, connects the two points together, decreasing the amount of space you have to go across thus lowering the amount of time to get between here and there. In your case, it might also have had interdimensional properties." Haru then asked, "But then, if Makoto and I are in this dimension, how can there still be the two of us on the screen whenever our movies are played?" The young man replied, "This is where something I've been coming up with comes into play. I've recently been theorising something that I call, Interdimensional Physics. One of the things that I've stated in my theory is that every object has it's own dimensional habitation. And when an object from one dimension travels into another different dimension, the physics of the object's original dimension immediately replaces that lost object with a duplicate of it. So, when you two left your own dimensions and arrived in my own, the physics of your own dimensions replaced you with duplicates of you." Makoto replied, "So, now it looks like your theories have been proven right." He replied, "You might say that. And forgive me for how I acted earlier, but I was such a state of shock, surprise, and disbelief that I didn't have time to think." Haru then comforted him in saying, "It's OK. I'm sorry that slapped in the face." He replied, "Well, in a way, if didn't do that, it would've taken me much longer to snap out of that little fit." Haru added, "That was the first time I had ever slapped a boy in my life." He then added, "There probably weren't any boys where came from that gave you any reason to." Makoto then said, "From the pictures you shown us, we can tell you already know who we are, but we don't know who you are." He then said, "Oh. Right. My name is Robert Dunningham. But people call me 'Rob' for short." Haru said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Rob." Makoto added, "Same here." Robert then, "Well, right now I'm tired." Makoto asked, "Where's your family?" Robert replied, "My mom and dad are on a business trip on the East Coast. and my brother is spending the duration of their trip at our grandmother's house. My parents left this house in my care." Haru said to Robert, "A lot to put on your shoulders." Robert replied, "But I can handle it. You and Makoto can sleep in my brother's room if you want. It has a bunkbed." Haru replied, "Thanks, Rob." Makoto added, "You're so kind to let us stay." Robert replied, "Well, you're my guests and I am your host." And so begins a friendship that face several challenges through its journey. The next day, Robert would be given the chance to broaden Haru's and Makoto's horizons in the real world.


End file.
